Graphene Oxide Facilitates Transformation of Waste PET into MOF Nanorods in Ionic Liquids

Graphene Oxide Facilitates Transformation of Waste PET into MOF Nanorods in Ionic Liquids Deepa Gangaraju Centre for Energy and Alternative Fuels, Department of Chemistry, VELS Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Chennai 600117, Tamilnadu, India Andikkadu Masilamani Shanmugharaj Centre for Energy and Alternative Fuels, Department of Chemistry, VELS Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Chennai 600117, Tamilnadu, India Vadahanambi Sridhar Global Core Research Centre for Ships and Offshore Plants (GCRC-SOP), Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0543-0125

Although though ionic liquids (IL) are rapidly emerging as highly efficient reagents for the depolymerization of waste plastics, their high cost and adverse impact on the environment make the overall process not only expensive but also environmentally harmful. In this manuscript, we report that graphene oxide (GO) facilitates the transformation of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to Ni-MOF (metal organic framework) nanorods anchored on reduced graphene oxide (Ni–MOF@rGO) through NMP (N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone)-based coordination in ionic liquids. Morphological studies using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed mesoporous three-dimensional structures of micrometer-long Ni-MOF nanorods anchored on reduced graphene substrates (Ni–MOF@rGO ), whereas structural studies using XRD and Raman spectra demonstrated the crystallinity of Ni-MOF nanorods. Chemical analysis of Ni–MOF@rGO carried out using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrated that nickel moieties exist in an electroactive OH-Ni-OH state, which was further confirmed by nanoscale elemental maps recorded using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The applicability of Ni–MOF@rGO as an electro-catalyst in a urea-enhanced water oxidation reaction (UOR) is reported. Furthermore, the ability of our newly developed NMP-based IL to grow MOF nanocubes on carbon nanotubes and MOF nano-islands on carbon fibers is also reported.
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